1. Related Applications
This Patent Application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/379,643 filed on Apr. 21, 2006 and entitled Method for Depositing Pavement Rejuvenation Materials into a Layer of Aggregate. Patent application Ser. No. 11/379,643 is a Continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/164,947 which was filed on Dec. 12, 2005 and entitled Apparatus for Depositing Pavement Rejuvenation Materials on a Road Surface. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/164,947 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/163,615 filed on Oct. 25, 2005 and entitled Apparatus, System, and Method for In Situ Pavement Recycling. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/163,615 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/070,411, U.S. Pat. No. 7,223,049, filed on Mar. 1, 2005 and entitled Apparatus, System, and Method for Directional Degradation of a Paved Surface All of the above mentioned U.S. Patent Applications are herein incorporated by reference for all that they contain.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to road reconstruction equipment and, more particularly, to wireless remote-controlled pavement recycling machines.
3. Background of the Invention
Asphalt is the most recycled material in the United States. In fact, tens of millions of tons of asphalt pavement are removed each year during highway widening and resurfacing projects and reused in paved surfaces. Such recycling efforts conserve natural resources, decrease construction time, minimize the impact of asphalt plant operations on the environment, and reduce reliance on landfills. Further, research shows that the structural performance of mixtures integrating reclaimed asphalt pavement (“RAP”) is equal to, and in some instances better than, virgin asphalt pavement.
Over time, various methods for in-place recycling of asphalt pavement or concrete have evolved, including but not limited to hot in-place recycling, cold in-place recycling, and full-depth recycling. These recycling processes generally involve mechanically breaking up a paved surface, applying fresh asphalt or asphalt rejuvenation materials to the fragments, depositing the resulting mixture over a road surface, and compacting the mixture to restore a smooth paved surface. In some cases, broken asphalt may be removed from a road surface, treated off location, and then returned and compacted.
Nevertheless, current methods for performing in-place recycling have their shortcomings. For example, current pavement recycling machines often utilize a cutting drum to mechanically break up a paved surface. These cutting drums typically include numerous cutting teeth mounted to a cylindrical drum to contact and mill the pavement as the machine travels forward. Because the width of a cutting drum is fixed and the drum is normally dependent on a machine for its direction of travel, these cutting drums are typically ill-equipped to maneuver around obstacles such as underground utility lines and boxes, manholes and manhole covers, culverts, rails, curbs, gutters, and other roadway obstacles. Furthermore, pavement fragments produced by cutting drums may be too large to incorporate into a recycled paved surface.
Another shortcoming of pavement recycling machines as well as other road reconstruction equipment may be the controls used to operate such equipment. For example, a machine's controls and/or monitoring capability may be inadequate to provide a desired level of feedback and awareness of events or conditions as they occur during an in-place recycling process. Some machines may also require one or more operators to be positioned at a fixed control console or require the operators to be continuously present with the machine while it is operating.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is an improved pavement recycling machine for performing in-place recycling. For example, it would be an improvement in the art to provide a pavement recycling machine that is better able to maneuver around various obstacles. Further needed is a pavement recycling machine better able to break up a paved surface into recyclable-sized fragments. Yet further needed is an improved control system for operating such a pavement recycling machine.